Sharing links in an augmented reality environment

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments provide methods and systems for users and business owners to share content and/or links to visual elements of a place at a physical location, and, in response to a user device pointing at a tagged place, causing the content and/or links to the visual elements of the place to be presented on the user device. In some embodiments, content and links are tied to specific objects at a place based at least in part upon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data, or one or more visual matching algorithms. Once the content and links are attached to the specific objects of the place, they can be discovered by a user with a portable device pointing at the specific objects in the real world.

This application is a continuation of allowed U.S. application Ser. No.15/248,944 entitled “SHARING LINKS IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY ENVIRONMENT,”filed Aug. 26, 2016, and issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,432,421, issued Aug. 30,2016, which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Portable computing devices are increasingly powerful and affordable.Users are relying upon portable computing devices to handle varioustypes of tasks. For example, a user can use a portable computing deviceto search information about a restaurant, store, or other place ofinterest before deciding whether to visit. However, in such a situation,the user may have to launch a map, a search engine, or other similarapplication to look up information such as the location of the placeeven if the place is close-by or in the view of the user. Further,inputting the search query and reviewing the results could take moretime than the time to check out the place in the real world.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a point of interest in the real worldin accordance with various embodiments;

FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate examples of sharing content and links relatedto a point of interest in an augmented reality environment in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example processes for sharing content andlinks to visual elements of a point of interest that can be utilized inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of points of interest as a user is movingthrough in the real world in accordance with various embodiments;

FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate examples of unique images of a point ofinterest in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for choosing a unique image of apoint of interest that can be utilized in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an augmented reality system forrecognizing and tracking a point of interest in the real world inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6A and 6B illustrates an example computing device that can be usedto implement aspects of the various embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates example components of a computing device such as thatillustrated in FIG. 6, in accordance with various embodiments; and

FIG. 8 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can beimplemented in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure overcome deficiencies in conventional approaches insharing content. In particular, various embodiments enable users andbusiness owners to attach content and/or links to visual elements of aplace at a physical location, and, in response to a user's portabledevice pointing at a tagged place, cause the content and/or links to thevisual elements of the place to be presented on the portable device. Thecontent and/or links can refer to various types of information, forexample, but are not limited to, promotional coupons, menus,advertisements, reservation systems, floor plans, videos, audio, waittime, customer reviews, music, chat walls, attractions of the place,instant or daily specials, recommendations on specific items, hyperlinksto reviews of the place on third party review sites, or otheralternative places, etc. In some embodiments, content and links are tiedto specific objects at a place based at least in part upon one of GlobalPositioning System (GPS) locations, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)orientations, compass data, or one or more visual matching algorithms.Once the content and links are attached to the specific objects of theplace, they can be discovered by a user with a portable device pointingat the specific objects in the real world. At least some embodimentscause content and/or links to a physical location to be presented on auser's device based at least upon one of the proximity of the user tothe physical location, a point of view of the user, a user profile ofthe user (e.g., user demographic and preferences), or a profile of anowner of the physical location.

In some embodiments, images submitted by users and/or an owner of apoint of interest (e.g., a place, a scene, an object, etc.) are used asfiducials to assist recognition and tracking of the point of interest.Multiple images of a point of interest taken from different points ofview (e.g., crowd-sourced) can be dynamically used as fiducials forrecognition and tracking of the point of interest. As a user with a userdevice moves through a point of interest in the real world, a differentunique image (i.e., fiducials) can be chosen from a set of storedcandidate images of the point of interest based at least upon GPSlocations, IMU orientations, or compass data of the user device.

At least some embodiments provide various methods to control the typesof content and links that can be attached to a physical place in anaugmented reality environment, and/or how the attached content and linkscan be presented. For example, through one or more types ofauthentication processes, an owner of a physical place may get access toan augmented reality environment associated with his or her place. Uponauthentication, the owner can provide some inputs on the types ofcontent and links attached to the place, and/or how the attached contentand links are presented (e.g., a blank wall or whole business-front,layout, or visual elements to be attached). In some embodiments, asuitable communication means (e.g., a canvas or chat blog) is providedfor a user to attach content (e.g., texts, images, or videos) to avisual element at a point of interest, and interact with other users whohave left messages there, which can provide a form of sharing beyondwhat regular social network sites can offer.

In some embodiments, when a user or owner takes an image at a point ofinterest with a user device, the point of interest can be determinedbased at least in part upon a point of view of the user, or one or morevisual features of the image. The point of view of the user can bedetermined based at least in part upon GPS locations, IMU orientations,or compass data of the user device. As a part of image processing, anindication may be provided to the user or owner about the quality of thecaptured image so that suitable images can be submitted for imagematching. For example, an image with unique visual features works betterin image matching than the one that is featureless. In some instances,the scaled indication (e.g., a scale of 0 to 10, or strong/medium/bad)can be provided to the user. Unless the quality of an image crosses aminimum threshold, the image is not allowed to be submitted.

Some embodiments allow a user to take a self-guided tour of a point ofinterest in an augmented reality environment by pointing a user devicewith a camera at the point of interest in the real world and thenreceiving different links, files and/or content related to the point ofinterest for each image on the camera view of the user device. Variousother functions and advantages are described and suggested below as maybe provided in accordance with the various embodiments.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a point of interest in the real worldin accordance with various embodiments. In this example, a user 101 witha computing device 103 can be seen moving through the Market Street 140.Although the client device is not shown in FIG. 1A, it should beunderstood that various types of electronic or computing devices thatare capable of receiving and/or processing images in accordance withvarious embodiments are discussed herein. These client devices caninclude, for example desktop PCs, laptop computers, tablet computers,personal data assistants (PDAs), smart phones, portable media fileplayers, e-book readers, portable computers, head-mounted displays,interactive kiosks, mobile phones, net books, single-board computers(SBCs), embedded computer systems, wearable computers (e.g., watches orglasses), gaming consoles, home-theater PCs (HTPCs), TVs, DVD players,digital cable boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs), computer systemscapable of running a web-browser, or a combination of any two or more ofthese. The computing device may use operating systems that include, butare not limited to, Android, Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD),iPhone OS (iOS), Linus, OS X, Unix-like Real-time Operating System(e.g., QNX), Microsoft Windows, Window Phone, and IBM z/OS. Thecomputing device 103 may have one or more image capture elements (notshown), such as one or more cameras or camera sensors, to capture imagesand/or videos. The one or more image capture elements may include acharge-coupled device (CCD), an active pixel sensor in complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor(NMOS), an infrared or ultrasonic image sensor, or an image sensorutilizing other type of image capturing technologies. The computingdevice 103 may have one or more audio capture devices (not shown)capable of capturing audio data (e.g., word commands from the user 101).

In this example, the user 101 desires to obtain relevant informationabout the XYZ Bank 110 and the ABC Restaurant 120 using the computingdevice 103 to determine whether to cross the Market Street 140 to stopby the places. The user 101 can aim one or more image capture elementslocated on the computing device 103 to capture live view of at least aportion of the XYC Bank 110 and the ABC Restaurant 120. The XYC Bank 110and the ABC Restaurant 120 may be recognized by analyzing and comparingthe captured image(s) or feature(s) with stored images related to theplace in a database. In some embodiments, image recognition may requirea still image rather than a live view. The user 101 may be required tocapture a still image (e.g., press a shutter button) for the purpose ofimage recognition.

Many embodiments provide imaging processing algorithms and recognitiontechniques to recognize a point of interest by matching the feature(s)or image of the point of interest against saved images in a database.For example, optical character recognition (OCR) can be used as aprimary image analysis technique or to enhance other processes. Features(e.g., shape, size, color and text) of the point of interest can beextracted and matched against points of interest determined in thevicinity of the user 101's location. In some embodiments, imageprocessing processes may include sub-processes such as, for example,thresholding (converting a grayscale image to black and white, or usingseparation based on a grayscale value), segmentation, blob extraction,pattern recognition, barcode and data matrix code reading, gauging(measuring object dimensions), positioning, edge detection, coloranalysis, filtering (e.g. morphological filtering) and template matching(finding, matching, and/or counting specific patterns). Varioustechniques (e.g., OCR and other text recognition processes) can be usedas the primary image analysis technique or to enhance other processes.Some techniques are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/094,655, filed Dec. 2, 2013, entitled “Visual Search in aControlled Shopping Environment,” which are hereby incorporated hereinby references in their entirety.

Once the XYZ Bank 110 and the ABC Restaurant 120 are recognized, storedcontent and links that are associated with the places can be providedbased at least upon the captured image data in real time, which isillustrated in FIG. 1B. The content and/or links presented on the userdevice may include an address, a phone number, business hours, a way tomake reservations, and/or customer review of the point of interest. Inthis example, the content listed in the billboard 112 includes anaddress, phone number, URL, price rating, food critic review,menu/product inventory, reservation service, and user review for the XYZBank 110 while the content listed in the billboard 129 includes anaddress, phone number, URL, and customer rating for the XYZ Bank 120. Insome instances, the content elements in the billboards 112 and 129 canbe interactive. For example, the user 101 may select the URL address,www.xyzbank.com, to open up a webpage of the XYZ Bank 110, or dial thephone number listed in the content 112 by tapping the number.

Depending on the distance between a user and a point of interest,different levels of detail information (e.g., content and links) relatedto the point of interest may be presented to the user or allow the userto submit into a database. As the user is getting closer to the point ofinterest, certain content and/or links (e.g., an instant discount) maybe shown on the user device. In some embodiments, depending on thefiducials that the user device is pointing at, a different set ofcontent and/or links may be presented to the user. In some embodiments,based upon a point of view of a user, certain content and links areshown to the user in small fonts or icons. The user 101 may get moredetails of these fonts or icons by selecting the small fonts or icons,or magnifying a display area corresponding to the small fonts or icons.

In some embodiments, content and links presented on a user device can bedetermined based at least in part upon a user profile or the location ofthe user device. In this example, if the user 101 is determined to be afirst time visitor to San Francisco, an icon or symbol of a landmark(e.g., the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge 160) that is in thedirection or in the vicinity of a user device may be presented on theuser device, together with an explanatory billboard 162. The billboard162 includes some tourist information regarding the landmark (e.g., thedistance and URL of the Bay Bridge 160). In some embodiments, points ofinterest or landmarks in the direction of a user device have to meet apredetermined set of conditions to be presented on a user device. Thepredetermined set of conditions include such as, but are not limited to,whether the points of interest are within a predetermined number ofmiles, having a threshold review rating, or within a predetermineddegree of orientation of the user device.

In some embodiments, the information of a point of interest presented toa user can be customized based at least upon the user profile or GPSlocations, weather conditions, compass, or a degree of relevancy to thepoint of interest. The customization of the information may includechoosing what types of information being presented and/or how theinformation is presented on the user device. For example, theinformation pertinent to a restaurant may include subject matters, suchas the type of food served, menu, price, user reviews, professionalcritic reviews, etc. In some embodiments, information deemed morerelevant the user may be displayed more prominently than those lessrelevant. If a user desires more information about a point of interest,the user may magnify or zoom the point of interest on a user device.

Various embodiments enable a user to share a variety of informationrelated to a point of interest within a point of view of the user. FIG.1C illustrates an example of sharing content and links related to apoint of interest in an augmented reality environment in accordance withvarious embodiments. In this example, a user interface is provided topresent an overlay of live view of the ABC Restaurant 120. The overlaycan be transparent or have different levels of transparency. In someembodiments, a blank canvas or a webpage may be provided for a user toshare content and links related to visual elements of a point ofinterest. The canvas or webpage may also present content and/or linksrelated to the visual elements that were submitted by other users. Theuser may be allowed to edit or delete the content, comments or linksthat were submitted earlier by himself or herself.

In some embodiments, various types of markers can be used to anchorcontent and/or links submitted by users. In this example, the user orowner of the restaurant can designate certain areas with various sizes(e.g., rectangular 151, 152, 126 and 128 in dashed lines) to anchordifferent types of content and links related to the features of the ABCRestaurant 120. The size, style, fill ratio or transparency percentageof a marker can be customized by the users or owner.

In some embodiments, a user may outline a particular display area on theuser device, which corresponds to a visual element of a point ofinterest, to submit comments, content, or links related to the point ofinterest. The user can use the particular display area on the userdevice to emphasize the feature(s) that the user would like to attachcontent and/or links to. In some embodiments, an indication (e.g.,different colors or strong/medium/weak) can be provided to a user onwhether a particular display area of a point of interest is good enoughto be designated as a marker. The user may be prompted to move the userdevice around the point of interest to determine how likely the featurescorresponding to the particular display area can be matched againstthose from different views.

At least some embodiments enable an owner of a point of interest tocontrol over at least in part what types of content and link that can beattached to a physical place in an augmented reality environment, or howthe content and links can be presented. For example, an owner of a pointof interest in the real world may customize or personalize a platform(e.g., a canvas or overlay) in the augmented reality environment forusers to submit files, content, and/or links related to the point ofinterest. In some embodiments, one or more types of privacy policies maybe implemented to guide or flag content and/or links that are submitted.For example, “User's registration is not required. Any user can submitcontent or links without logging in with a username, in which case theywill be identified by network IP address.”

Some embodiments provide one or more methods for an owner of a point ofinterest to authenticate himself or herself in an augmented realityenvironment. In some instances, the owner may have to answer correctly aseries of questions related to at least one of the history of the pointof interest, or a profile of the owner on the record. In someembodiments, a GPS based authentication system can be used to verifywhether the claimed owner of a point of interest has been to the placewith a minimum threshold of frequency. Once an owner of a point ofinterest gets authenticated, the owner can be enabled to control atleast in part what types of content and link that can be attached to thepoint of interest in an augmented reality environment, or how thecontent and links can be presented (e.g., the layout of the markers, orhow many links attached to each marker). In some embodiments, an ownerof a point of interest may prohibit users to submit content and/or linksto the point of interest in an augmented reality environment, or mayrequire a user to have a minimum privilege level to do so. In some otherembodiments, an owner of a point of interest may allow a user to attachwhatever content and/or links the user would like, or freely attachcontent and/or links the way the user likes.

The content and links presented on a canvas or overlay of a point ofinterest can include subject matters of the point of interest such as,but are not limited to, attractions of the point of interest, instant ordaily specials, recommendations on specific items, hyperlinks to reviewsof the point of interest on third party review sites, or otheralternative point of interest (e.g., proximity, or reviews) based on auser's profile and preferences. In some embodiments, if the user hasregistered an account with a point of interest, a user interface may beprovided for the user to log into his or her account without launchingother application or web browser. For example, if the point of interestis a bank, the user can log in on the user interface to check balancesand make transactions. If the user desires, the user's log ininformation can be saved. The user interface (e.g., a canvas or overlay)may automatically log in the user's account in subsequent accesses.

Some embodiments present content and/or links related to a point ofinterest in various ways (e.g., glowing effect, bold effect, billboardeffect, or a visual 3D element). In the FIG. 1C, the canvas or overlayof the ABC Restaurant 120 comprises the designated area 151, 152, 128,and 126 for users or owner to submit content or links related to the ABCRestaurant 120. The designated area 151 includes the billboard 124 todisplay an address, phone number, URL, and user reviews (e.g., reviewsfrom Friends A and B) for the ABC Restaurant 120. The designated area152 includes the billboard 121 of videos. The designated area 128includes the billboard 123 to display a menu 122 of the ABC Restaurant120. The designated area 126 includes the billboard 123 to display aninstant coupon in bold to draw the user 101's attentions. The canvas oroverlay of the ABC Restaurant 120 may also have a picture of the smilingowner 125 inviting the user 101 to visit the Restaurant 120, “Welcome!Come on in!” 153. In some instances, the picture of smiling owner 125may be a 2D hologram image with the owner facing the direction of a useras the user walks by the front door.

In some embodiments, content and/or links presented on a user device ofa user is determined based at least in part upon profile (e.g.,demographic or preferences) of the user. For example, a close-by storemay present an instant discount link of a necktie if a user is male, andpresent a discount link of a formula if a user is determined to be a newmom. In some embodiments, one or more machine learning algorithms can beused to analyze user profiles and/or behavior from a group of users(e.g., crowd-sourced data). The group of users may share at least onecommon traits with the user. For example, a discount coupon or sale itemthat is particular attractive to the same group of users as the user maybe presented on the user device. In some embodiments, content and/orlinks presented on a user device of a user is determined based at leastin part upon various viewing perspective (e.g., weather conditions,outdoor or indoor, day or night time) from the user.

A user may find the content and/or links presented on a user devicehelpful or not helpful for him or her to determine whether to stop bythe point of interest. The user is enabled to comment on the canvaswhether content and links presented are helpful. The user may explicitlycomment on the content and/or links. In some embodiments, such feedbackfrom the user can be determined implicitly. For example, the user mayshow some interests by clicking on the links, magnifying a display areacorresponding to certain content presented, or focusing on certaincontent over a threshold period of time (e.g., determined by headtracking, gaze tracking, or eye tracking techniques).

In some embodiments, user reviews related to a point of interest can becollected and extracted from comments of users that have left on acanvas or overlay of the point of interest, or various type of sourcessuch as, but are not limited to, social networking sites, newspaper andmagazines, search engines, local directory services, and/or third partyservice providers. In some embodiments, the average review rating can becalculated based on a weighted average of collected explicit andinexplicit comments from users. Comments from different groups of usersmay be assigned different weights in the calculation. For example,reviews from a user's friends (e.g., contacts in user's address book ona user device or a social networking site) may have a higher weight thanreviews from other users.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example process 200 for sharing content and linksto visual features of a point of interest that can be utilized inaccordance with various embodiments. It should be understood that therecan be additional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments unless otherwise stated. The example method embodiment 200starts with capturing an image of a point of interest in the real worldby a user device, at step 204. The image corresponds to a point of viewfrom a user of the user device. The point of view of the user can bedetermined based at least in part upon one of GPS locations, IMUorientations, or compass data of the user device. The image may have oneor more features for image matching and recognitions. In someembodiments, the one or more features may be used as one or more anchorpoints in an augmented reality environment for users to attach commentand/or links associated with the point of interest.

The point of interest can be recognized by matching the one or morefeatures of the point of interest against each of saved images of aplurality of points of interest in the database, at step 206. In someembodiments, the plurality of images used in the image recognition andmatching process are selected based at least in part upon the proximityof the points of interest to the location of the user device or thepoint of view of the user. Directional cues may be provided on a userinterface layer of the user device for points of interests that are notin the point of view of the user. At step 208, content, files, and/orlinks related to the point of interest are retrieved from the database.In some embodiments, the content, files, and/or links can be retrieveddirectly from various types of sources, such as, the database, socialnetworking sites, newspapers and magazines, search engines, localdirectory services, and/or third party service providers. The content,files, and/or links can be subject matters of the point of interest suchas, attractions of the point of interest, instant or daily specials,recommendations on specific items, hyperlinks to reviews of the point ofinterest on third party review sites, or other alternative point ofinterest (e.g., proximity, or reviews) based on user's profile andpreferences.

At step 210, the retrieved content, files, and/or links can be presentedon an interface layer of the user device based at least in part upon theuser's proximity to the point of interest, the point of view of theuser, or the user's profile and preferences. The user can submit one ormore additional links, content, and/or files on the interface layer, oredit any part of the links, content, and/or files that were submitted bythe user, at step 212.

Various other types of methods to share or present content and links tovisual elements of a point of interest based at least in part upon auser's proximity to the point of interest, a view of the user, or theuser's profile and preferences are also possible, some of which arediscussed in further detail elsewhere herein.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example process 220 for sharing content and linksto a point of interest that can be utilized in accordance with variousembodiments. It should be understood that there can be additional,fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar or alternative orders,or in parallel, within the scope of the various embodiments unlessotherwise stated. The example method embodiment 220 starts with loggingin as an owner of a point of interest through an authentication process,at step 221. The owner may have to answer correctly a series ofquestions relating to the history of the point of interest orinformation listed in an owner record for the point of interest. Oncethe owner gets authenticated, the owner can provide content or a linkrelating to the point of interest in an augmented reality environment,at step 223. The owner can customize a layout of the content or link ona user interface layer corresponding to the point of interest, at step225. A user can select the customized layout or a default layout of thecontent or link on the user interface layer corresponding to the pointof interest on a user device, at step 227. The user can submit one ormore links and/or content relating to the point of interest on the userinterface layer, or edit any of the content and/or link that weresubmitted by the user, at step 229. The submitted one or more linksand/or content are associated with at least one of one or more acquiredimages by the user device, or GPS location, IMU orientations, or compassdata of the user device, at step 231. In some embodiments, an owner of apoint of interest can control at least in part how the content or linkscan be presented (e.g., a canvas or overlay, a layout of markers, or howmany links attached to each marker) to users in an augmented realityenvironment, or what types of content and link can be attached to thepoint of interest.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of points of interest as a user is movingthrough in the real world in accordance with various embodiments. Inthis example, a user 301 is operating a computing device 303incorporating one or more imaging capturing element (not shown) andwalking along the Market Street 340 from the position 350 to anotherposition 360. At the position 350, the computing device 303 has aviewing angle 302 that is able to capture an image of at least asubstantial portion of the ABC Restaurant 320 such that the ABCRestaurant 320 is in the center of the viewing angle 302. At theposition 360, the computing device 303 has a viewing angle 305 that isable to capture an image of at least a substantial portion of the XYZBank 310 such that the XYZ Bank 310 is in the center of the viewingangle 305.

A backend server can be configured to store a plurality of imagesrelated to various points of interest, along with location and point ofview data (e.g., GPS location, IMU orientations and compass data)describing the point of view when each image was taken. In someembodiments, the images and point of view data can be collected throughcrowd-sourcing or by a fleet of vehicles. In some embodiments, eachstored image has attached content and/or links that were previouslysubmitted associated with specific features in the image. In thisexample, when the user 301 visits the point of interest (e.g., the ABCRestaurant 320 and the XYZ Bank 310) and points the computing device 303at the point of interest, the computing device 303 can upload a cameraimage along with location and point of interest data to the backendserver.

Based at least upon the location and point of direction of the computingdevice 303, the backend server can choose a candidate set of storedimages for image recognition and matching. In some embodiments, thecandidate set of images may share at least a common feature with theimages taken by the computing device 303, or similar enough to thelocation and point of direction of the computing device 303. The backendserver can then perform image recognition and matching between theimages taken by the computing device 303 and each of the candidate setof images, and also calculate a confidence score for each of thecandidate set of images. A candidate image, along with content and linksassociated with the image, which has the highest confidence score can beprovided as a fiducial (e.g., a unique image, or a set of feature pointsdescribing the unique image) for recognition and tracking. In someembodiments, the computing device 303 can recognize the fiducial in thelive camera view and dynamically track the changes to the camera viewdue to the movement of the computing device 303.

FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate examples of different unique images of apoint of interest that are presented on the computing device 303 as theuser 301 is walking from the position 350 to the position 360 inaccordance with various embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, a uniqueimage 328 of the ABC Restaurant 320, along with content and linksassociated with the image, is presented on the computing device 303. Theunique image 328 may be selected from a plurality of images that weretaken by different users under various conditions (e.g., differentweather and light conditions, or different points of view). Asillustrated in FIG. 3C, when the user 301 moves along the street fromthe position 350 to the position 360, a different unique image 338,along with content (e.g., displayed by the billboards 315 and 332), canbe selected from a different set of images that corresponds to the newlocation 360 and the new point of direction of the computing device 303.

In some embodiments, a client computing device or a augmented realitysystem is configured to detect a significant change (e.g., a user walksalong a street or moves to a different side of a point of interest, ortracking failure) to the point of view from the client computing device.In response to the changes, a different set of candidate images can beretrieved from the backend server for image recognition and matching.The candidate image with the highest confidence score can be dynamicallychosen as a new fiducial and used for subsequent tracking.

In some instances, two or more points of interest (e.g., adjacentstores) may be present in the camera image of a client computing device,the client computing device or the augmented reality system isconfigured to simultaneously retrieve candidate images for imagerecognition and matching of the two or more points of view. Two or morefiducials, along with attached content and links, may be presentedtogether on the camera view of the client computing device.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for choosing a unique image of apoint of interest that can be utilized in accordance with variousembodiments. It should be understood that there can be additional,fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar or alternative orders,or in parallel, within the scope of the various embodiments unlessotherwise stated. The example method embodiment 400 starts withreceiving an image of a point of interest in the real world from a userdevice, at step 402. The image corresponds to a point of view from auser of the user device and may have one or more features for imagematching and recognition. The point of view of the user can bedetermined based at least in part upon GPS locations, IMU orientations,or compass data of the user device. At step 404, a set of candidateimages can be chosen based at least upon the location of the userdevice, or the point of view of the user.

The received image can be compared with each of the candidate imagesaccording to one or more image matching algorithms, at step 406. In manyinstances, the candidate images may be taken at different times of dayand/or under different weather conditions. A confidence score iscalculated for each candidate image, at step 408. A unique image, whichhas the highest confidence score, can be chosen, at step 410. Content orlinks attached to the unique image can be presented on a user interfacelayer of the user device, at step 412. At step 414, in response to thepoint of view of the users having changed over threshold value, a newunique image can be utilized by the user device for fiducial recognitionand tracking, and this new image might have the same or different linksand content as the previous unique image. A new unique image with thesame content or links might represent a different point of view of thesame point of interest.

The new unique image is selected from a new set of candidate images thatcorresponds to the location of the user device, and the new point ofview of the user. At step 416, new content or new links attached to thenew unique image can be presented on the user interface of the userdevice.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example 500 of an augmented reality system 510 forrecognizing and tracking a point of interest in the real world inaccordance with various embodiments The augmented reality platform 530communicates with the client computing devices 502 via the network 504.Although only some client computing devices 502 are shown in FIG. 5, itshould be understood that various other types of electronic or computingdevices that are capable of receiving, or rendering a web application inaccordance with various embodiments are discussed herein. These clientdevices can include, for example desktop PCs, laptop computers, tabletcomputers, personal data assistants (PDAs), smart phones, portable mediafile players, e-book readers, portable computers, head-mounted displays,interactive kiosks, mobile phones, net books, single-board computers(SBCs), embedded computer systems, wearable computers (e.g., watches orglasses), gaming consoles, home-theater PCs (HTPCs), TVs, DVD players,digital cable boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs), computer systemscapable of running a web-browser, or a combination of any two or more ofthese.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality platform 530 provides a webservice allowing users to search and discover links and other content(e.g., reviews, menus, video, chat walls, contact information, URLs)that are tied to unique visual features at a point of interest in thereal world. The client computing devices 502 can display those links andcontent as augmented reality content on the display screen or the camerapreview screen. On the production side, the augmented reality system 530enables users or an owner of point of interest to submit or upload linksand/or contents related to the point of interest to the database 520.The links and/or contents are tied to at least one of the point of view(e.g., GPS location, IMU orientation, and compass) from the clientcomputing device 502, or image features of the point of interest. On theconsumption side, users in the real world can discover the links and/orcontent related to the point of interest by pointing the clientcomputing device 502 at the point of interest. The links and/or contentrelated to the point of interest can be presented on as contentaugmenting a camera preview of the real world.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality platform 530 enables users tosubmit multiple and varied points of view of the same point of interest.In some instances, submitted points of view are taken under differentweather conditions. As a user moves along in the real world, theaugmented reality system 530 can recognize and match features in thereal-time image against images that are attached to the points ofinterest in the vicinity of the client computing device 502 or withinthe point of view of the user. Candidates images together with attachedcontent and/or links can be dynamically selected, even when points ofview of the user is moving and the real-time image is different from thesaved images. The augmented reality platform 530 can calculate aconfidence score for each candidate image by matching the candidateimage against the real-time image and provide a stored image with thehighest confidence score for the user to use as a fiducial forrecognition and tracking, along with the content and/links associatewith the point of interest.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate front and back views, respectively, of anexample electronic computing device 600 that can be used in accordancewith various embodiments. Although a portable computing device (e.g., asmartphone, an electronic book reader, or tablet computer) is shown, itshould be understood that any device capable of receiving and processinginput can be used in accordance with various embodiments discussedherein. The devices are capable of receiving, displaying or playingstreaming media files in accordance with various embodiments discussedherein. The devices can include, for example, desktop PCs, laptopcomputers, tablet computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), smartphones, portable media players, e-book readers, portable computers,head-mounted displays, interactive kiosks, mobile phones, net books,single-board computers (SBCs), embedded computer systems, wearablecomputers (e.g., watches or glasses), gaming consoles, home-theater PCs(HTPCs), TVs, DVD players, digital cable boxes, digital video recorders(DVRs), computer systems capable of running a web-browser, among others.

In this example, the computing device 600 has a display screen 602(e.g., an LCD element) operable to display information or image contentto one or more users or viewers of the device. The display screen ofsome embodiments displays information (e.g., streaming media file) tothe viewer facing the display screen (e.g., on the same side of thecomputing device as the display screen). The computing device in thisexample can include one or more imaging elements, in this exampleincluding two image capture elements 604 on the front of the device andat least one image capture element 610 on the back of the device. Itshould be understood, however, that image capture elements could also,or alternatively, be placed on the sides or corners of the device, andthat there can be any appropriate number of capture elements of similaror different types. Each image capture element 604 and 610 may be, forexample, a camera, a charge-coupled device (CCD), a motion detectionsensor or an infrared sensor, or other image capturing technology.

As discussed, the device can use the images (e.g., still or video)captured from the imaging elements 604 and 610 to generate athree-dimensional simulation of the surrounding environment (e.g., avirtual reality of the surrounding environment for display on thedisplay element of the device). Further, the device can utilize outputsfrom at least one of the image capture elements 604 and 610 to assist indetermining the location and/or orientation of a user and in recognizingnearby persons, objects, or locations. For example, if the user isholding the device, the captured image information can be analyzed(e.g., using mapping information about a particular area) to determinethe approximate location and/or orientation of the user. The capturedimage information may also be analyzed to recognize nearby persons,objects, or locations (e.g., by matching parameters or elements from themapping information).

The computing device can also include at least one microphone or otheraudio capture elements capable of capturing audio data, such as wordsspoken by a user of the device, music being hummed by a person near thedevice, or audio being generated by a nearby speaker or other suchcomponent, although audio elements are not required in at least somedevices. In this example there are three microphones, one microphone 608on the front side, one microphone 612 on the back, and one microphone606 on or near a top or side of the device. In some devices there may beonly one microphone, while in other devices there might be at least onemicrophone on each side and/or corner of the device, or in otherappropriate locations.

The device 600 in this example also includes one or more orientation orposition-determining elements 618 operable to provide information suchas a position, direction, motion, or orientation of the device. Theseelements can include, for example, accelerometers, inertial sensors,electronic gyroscopes, and electronic compasses.

The example device also includes at least one computing mechanism 614,such as at least one wired or wireless component operable to communicatewith one or more electronic devices. The device also includes a powersystem 616, such as may include a battery operable to be rechargedthrough all plug-in approaches, or through other approaches such ascapacitive charging through proximity with a power mat or other suchdevice. Various other elements and/or combinations are possible as wellwithin the scope of various embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a set of basic components of an electronic computingdevice 700 such as the device 600 described with respect to FIG. 6. Inthis example, the device includes at least one processing unit 702 forexecuting instructions that can be stored in a memory device or element704. As would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, thedevice can include many types of memory, data storage, orcomputer-readable media, such as a first data storage for programinstructions for execution by the processing unit(s) 702, the same orseparate storage can be used for images or data, a removable memory canbe available for sharing information with other devices, and any numberof computing approaches can be available for sharing with other devices.

The device typically will include some type of display element 706, suchas a touch screen, electronic ink (e-ink), organic light emitting diode(OLED) or liquid crystal display (LCD), although devices such asportable media players might convey information via other means, such asthrough audio speakers. The display element 706 is capable of displayingstreaming media files or other information to viewers facing the displayelement 706.

As discussed, the device in many embodiments will include at least oneimaging/audio element 708, such as one or more cameras that are able tocapture images of the surrounding environment and that are able to imagea user, people, or objects in the vicinity of the device. The imagecapture element can include any appropriate technology, such as a CCDimage capture element having a sufficient resolution, focal range, andviewable area to capture an image of the user when the user is operatingthe device. Methods for capturing images using a camera element with acomputing device are well known in the art and will not be discussedherein in detail. It should be understood that image capture can beperformed using a single image, multiple images, periodic imaging,continuous image capturing, image streaming, etc. Further, a device caninclude the ability to start and/or stop image capture, such as whenreceiving a command from a user, application, or other device.

The example computing device 700 also includes at least oneorientation/motion determining element 710 able to determine and/ordetect orientation and/or movement of the device. Such an element caninclude, for example, an accelerometer or gyroscope operable to detectmovement (e.g., rotational movement, angular displacement, tilt,position, orientation, motion along a non-linear path, etc.) of thedevice 700. An orientation determining element can also include anelectronic or digital compass, which can indicate a direction (e.g.,north or south) in which the device is determined to be pointing (e.g.,with respect to a primary axis or other such aspect).

As discussed, the device in many embodiments will include at least apositioning element 712 for determining a location of the device (or theuser of the device). A positioning element can include or comprise a GPSor similar location-determining elements operable to determine relativecoordinates for a position of the device. As mentioned above,positioning elements may include wireless access points, base stations,etc., that may either broadcast location information or enabletriangulation of signals to determine the location of the device. Otherpositioning elements may include QR codes, barcodes, RFID tags, NFCtags, etc. that enable the device to detect and receive locationinformation or identifiers that enable the device to obtain the locationinformation (e.g., by mapping the identifiers to a correspondinglocation). Various embodiments can include one or more such elements inany appropriate combination.

As mentioned above, some embodiments use the element(s) to track thelocation of a device. Upon determining an initial position of a device(e.g., using GPS), the device of some embodiments may keep track of thelocation of the device by using the element(s), or in some instances, byusing the orientation determining element(s) as mentioned above, or acombination thereof. As should be understood, the algorithms ormechanisms used for determining a position and/or orientation can dependat least in part upon the selection of elements available to the device.In some embodiments, the example computing device 700 may also include alow power, low resolution imaging element to capture image data. The lowresolution imaging element can transmit the captured image data over alow bandwidth bus, such as an I2C bus, to a low power processor, such asa PIC-class processor. The PIC processor may also communicate with othercomponents of the computing device 700, such as Orientation MotionElement 710, etc. The PIC processor can analyze the image data from thelow resolution imaging element and other components of the computingdevice 700 to determine whether the head motion likely corresponds to arecognized head gesture. If the PIC processor determines that the headmotion likely corresponds to a recognize head gesture, the PIC processorcan enable other image element to activate high resolution image captureand/or main processor to analyze the capture high resolution image data.

The example device also includes one or more wireless components 714operable to communicate with one or more electronic devices within acomputing range of the particular wireless channel. The wireless channelcan be any appropriate channel used to enable devices to communicatewirelessly, such as Bluetooth, cellular, NFC, or Wi-Fi channels. Itshould be understood that the device can have one or more al wiredcommunications connections as known in the art.

The device also includes a power system 716, such as may include abattery operable to be recharged through al plug-in approaches, orthrough other approaches such as capacitive charging through proximitywith a power mat or other such device. Various other elements and/orcombinations are possible as well within the scope of variousembodiments.

In some embodiments the device can include at least one additional inputdevice 718 able to receive al input from a user. This al input caninclude, for example, a push button, touch pad, touch screen, wheel,joystick, keyboard, mouse, keypad, or any other such device or elementwhereby a user can input a command or a request for additional productinformation to the device. These I/O devices could even be connected bya wireless infrared or Bluetooth or other link as well in someembodiments. Some devices also can include a microphone or other audiocapture element that accepts voice or other audio commands. For example,a device might not include any buttons at all, but might be controlledonly through a combination of visual and audio commands, such that auser can control the device without having to be in contact with thedevice.

As discussed, different approaches can be implemented in variousenvironments in accordance with the described embodiments. For example,FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an environment 800 for implementingaspects in accordance with various embodiments. As will be appreciated,although a Web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation,different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement variousembodiments. The system includes an electronic computing device 802,which can include any appropriate device operable to send and receiverequests, messages or information over an appropriate network 804 andconvey information back to a user of the device. Examples of suchcomputing devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheldmessaging devices, laptop computers, set-top boxes, personal dataassistants, electronic book readers and the like. The network caninclude any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, acellular network, a local area network or any other such network orcombination thereof. The network could be a “push” network, a “pull”network, or a combination thereof. In a “push” network, one or more ofthe servers push out data to the computing device. In a “pull” network,one or more of the servers send data to the computing device uponrequest for the data by the computing device. Components used for such asystem can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/orenvironment selected. Protocols and components for communicating viasuch a network are well known and will not be discussed herein indetail. Computing over the network can be enabled via wired or wirelessconnections and combinations thereof. In this example, the networkincludes the Internet, as the environment includes a Web server 806 forreceiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although forother networks, an alternative device serving a similar purpose could beused, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The illustrative environment includes at least one application server808 and a data store 810. It should be understood that there can beseveral application servers, layers or other elements, processes orcomponents, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which caninteract to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriatedata store. As used herein, the term “data store” refers to any deviceor combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrievingdata, which may include any combination and number of data servers,databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard,distributed or clustered environment. The application server 808 caninclude any appropriate hardware and software for integrating with thedata store 810 as needed to execute aspects of one or more applicationsfor the computing device and handling a majority of the data access andbusiness logic for an application. The application server providesaccess control services in cooperation with the data store and is ableto generate content such as text, graphics, audio and/or video to betransferred to the user, which may be served to the user by the Webserver 806 in the form of HTML, XML or another appropriate structuredlanguage in this example. The handling of all requests and responses, aswell as the delivery of content between the computing device 802 and theapplication server 808, can be handled by the Web server 806. It shouldbe understood that the Web and application servers are not required andare merely example components, as structured code discussed herein canbe executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussedelsewhere herein.

The data store 810 can include several separate data tables, databasesor other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating toa particular aspect. For example, the data store illustrated includesmechanisms for storing content (e.g., production data) 812 and userinformation 816, which can be used to serve content for the productionside. The user information 816 may include user preference, historicaldata, user demographic data, and audio system of the user devicesassociated with users. Demographic data of users may include user age,user gender, user educational background, user marital status, userincome level, user ethnicity, user postal code, user primary language,or user spending habit. The audio system may include headphone (e.g.,earphone, ear bud, and the like), speaker (e.g., tablet speaker, bluetooth speaker, computer speaker, bookshelf speaker, center-channelspeaker, floor speaker, in-wall and in-ceiling speaker, outdoor speaker,sound bar, portable speaker, and woofer/sub-woofer speaker), or varioustypes of audio amplifiers. The data store is also shown to include amechanism for storing log or session data 814. It should be understoodthat there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in thedata store, such as page image information and access rightsinformation, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanismsas appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 810. Thedata store 810 is operable, through logic associated therewith, toreceive instructions from the application server 808 and obtain, updateor otherwise process data in response thereto. In one example, a usermight submit a search request for a certain type of item. In this case,the data store might access the user information to verify the identityof the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtaininformation about items of that type. The information can then bereturned to the user, such as in a results listing on a Web page thatthe user is able to view via a browser on the user device 802.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in adedicated page or window of the browser.

Each server typically will include an operating system that providesexecutable program instructions for the general administration andoperation of that server and typically will include computer-readablemedium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of theserver, allow the server to perform its intended functions. Suitableimplementations for the operating system and general functionality ofthe servers are known or commercially available and are readilyimplemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly inlight of the disclosure herein.

The environment in one embodiment is a distributed computing environmentutilizing several computer systems and components that areinterconnected via computing links, using one or more computer networksor direct connections. However, it will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally wellin a system having fewer or a greater number of components than areillustrated in FIG. 8. Thus, the depiction of the system 800 in FIG. 8should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to thescope of the disclosure.

The various embodiments can be further implemented in a wide variety ofoperating environments, which in some cases can include one or more usercomputers or computing devices which can be used to operate any of anumber of applications. User or computing devices can include any of anumber of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop or laptopcomputers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular,wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable ofsupporting a number of networking and messaging protocols. Such a systemcan also include a number of workstations running any of a variety ofcommercially-available operating systems and other known applicationsfor purposes such as development and database management. These devicescan also include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals,thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicatingvia a network.

Most embodiments utilize at least one network that would be familiar tothose skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of avariety of commercially-available protocols, such as TCP/IP, OSI, FTP,UPnP, NFS, CIFS and AppleTalk. The network can be, for example, a localarea network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, theInternet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network,an infrared network, a wireless network and any combination thereof.

In embodiments utilizing a Web server, the Web server can run any of avariety of server or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTPservers, CGI servers, data servers, Java servers and businessapplication servers. The server(s) may also be capable of executingprograms or scripts in response requests from user devices, such as byexecuting one or more Web applications that may be implemented as one ormore scripts or programs written in any programming language, such asJava®, C, C# or C++ or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python orTCL, as well as combinations thereof. The server(s) may also includedatabase servers, including without limitation those commerciallyavailable from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase® and IBM®.

The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memoryand storage media as discussed above. These can reside in a variety oflocations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) oneor more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computersacross the network. In a particular set of embodiments, the informationmay reside in a storage-area network (SAN) familiar to those skilled inthe art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functionsattributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may bestored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate. Where a system includescomputerized devices, each such device can include hardware elementsthat may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, forexample, at least one central processing unit (CPU), at least one inputdevice (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch-sensitive displayelement or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a displaydevice, printer or speaker). Such a system may also include one or morestorage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices andsolid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) orread-only memory (ROM), as well as removable media devices, memorycards, flash cards, etc.

Such devices can also include a computer-readable storage media reader,a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless orwired), an infrared computing device) and working memory as describedabove. The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with,or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage mediumrepresenting remote, local, fixed and/or removable storage devices aswell as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanentlycontaining, storing, transmitting and retrieving computer-readableinformation. The system and various devices also typically will includea number of software applications, modules, services or other elementslocated within at least one working memory device, including anoperating system and application programs such as a client applicationor Web browser. It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments mayhave numerous variations from that described above. For example,customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements mightbe implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, suchas applets) or both. Further, connection to other computing devices suchas network input/output devices may be employed.

Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, orportions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in theart, including storage media and computing media, such as but notlimited to volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memoryor other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which canbe used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by asystem device. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, aperson of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/ormethods to implement the various embodiments.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that various modifications and changes may be made thereuntowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:acquiring, by a computing device, an image of at least a partial view ofa point of interest, the image corresponding to a point of view of animage capture element of the computing device and including one or morevisual features; identifying the point of interest, based on at least inpart on a comparison of the one or more visual features to a pluralityof candidate images and a respective confidence score of at least onecandidate image; causing at least one of a link or content to bepresented on an interface layer of the computing device, the interfacelayer including at least one overlay level over a live video or stillimage view and at least one level of transparency; and enablingcustomization of the interface layer corresponding to the point ofinterest by association of one or more additional links or additionalcontent to the point of interest and presentation of the one or moreadditional links or additional content on the interface layer.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the causing at least oneof a link or content to be presented on the interface layer of thecomputing device is based at least in part upon a distance between thecomputing device and the point of interest, the point of view of theimage capture element, a user profile, or a profile of an owner of thepoint of interest.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the customized presentation of the one or more additional linksor additional content on the interface layer includes at least one ofglowing effect, bold effect, billboard effect, or a visualthree-dimensional element.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim1, further comprising: receiving a selection of at least one displayarea on the interface layer; and associating at least one additionallink or additional content to the point of interest at a locationcorresponding to the at least one display area.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningthe point of view of the image capture element based at least in partupon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data, or one or more visualmatching algorithms.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein each image from the plurality of candidate images is associatedwith at least one location that is in a proximity of a location of thecomputing device.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one of a link or content includes at least one ofpromotional coupons, menus, advertisements, reservation systems, floorplans, videos, customer reviews, music, chat walls, audio, wait time,attractions of the point of interest, instant or daily specials,recommendations on specific items, hyperlinks to reviews of the place onthird party review sites, or alternative points of interest.
 8. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system,cause the computing system to: acquire an image of at least a partialview of a point of interest, the image corresponding to a point of viewof an image capture element of a computing device and including one ormore visual features; identify the point of interest, based on at leastin part on a comparison of the one or more visual features to aplurality of candidate images and a respective confidence score of atleast one candidate image; cause at least one of a link or content to bepresented on an interface layer of the computing device, the interfacelayer including at least one overlay level over a live video or stillimage view and at least one level of transparency; and enablecustomization of the interface layer corresponding to the point ofinterest by association of one or more additional links or additionalcontent to the point of interest and presentation of the one or moreadditional links or additional content on the interface layer.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein thecausing at least one of a link or content to be presented on theinterface layer of the computing device is based at least in part upon adistance between the computing device and the point of interest, thepoint of view of the image capture element, a user profile, or a profileof an owner of the point of interest.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the customizedpresentation of the one or more additional links or additional contenton the interface layer includes at least one of glowing effect, boldeffect, billboard effect, or a visual three-dimensional element.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor of thecomputing system, further cause the computing system to: receive aselection of at least one display area on the interface layer; associateat least one additional link or additional content to the point ofinterest at a location corresponding to the at least one display area.12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8,wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor ofthe computing system, further cause the computing system to: determinethe point of view of the image capture element based at least in partupon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data, or one or more visualmatching algorithms.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 8, wherein each image from the plurality of candidateimages is associated with at least one location that is in a proximityof a location of the computing device.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the at least one ofa link or content includes at least one of promotional coupons, menus,advertisements, reservation systems, floor plans, videos, customerreviews, music, chat walls, audio, wait time, attractions of the pointof interest, instant or daily specials, recommendations on specificitems, hyperlinks to reviews of the place on third party review sites,or alternative points of interest.
 15. A system, comprising: an imagecapture element; a display; at least one processor; and memory includinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe system to: acquire an image of at least a partial view of a point ofinterest, the image corresponding to a point of view of the imagecapture element and including one or more visual features; identify thepoint of interest, based on at least in part on a comparison of the oneor more visual features to a plurality of candidate images and arespective confidence score of at least one candidate image; cause atleast one of a link or content to be presented on an interface layer-ofthe display, the interface layer including at least one overlay levelover a live video or still image view and at least one level oftransparency; and enable customization of the interface layercorresponding to the point of interest by association of one or moreadditional links or additional content to the point of interest andpresentation of the one or more additional links or additional contenton the interface layer.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the causingat least one of a link or content to be presented on the interface layerof the computing device is based at least in part upon a distancebetween the computing device and the point of interest, the point ofview of the image capture element, a user profile, or a profile of anowner of the point of interest.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein thecustomized presentation of the one or more additional links oradditional content on the interface layer includes at least one ofglowing effect, bold effect, billboard effect, or a visualthree-dimensional element.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor of thecomputing system, further cause the system to: receive a selection of atleast one display area on the interface layer; associate at least oneadditional link or additional content to the point of interest at alocation corresponding to the at least one display area.
 19. The systemof claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor of the computing system, further cause the computing systemto: determine the point of view of the image capture element based atleast in part upon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) locations,Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data, or one ormore visual matching algorithms.
 20. The system of claim 15, whereineach image from the plurality of candidate images is associated with atleast one location that is in a proximity of a location of the system.